Four months of dog
Yesterday was the four-month anniversary of our adoption of Mungo. The neat thing about this length of time is that now he has been with us just about as long as he was in the custody of the Humane Society.
He has adapted pretty well. He's pretty good about meeting people outside our house; we haven't had enough visitors to desensitize him to people who come inside the house. He's still easily startled, but very much less so than when he first arrived. He's not the smartest or most graceful dog: more than once, he has backed away timidly from something, then bumped into a piece of furniture or gotten a foot tangled in a laptop cord and panicked. When he's running around in the back yard and tries to pick up his squeak toy, he often misses on the first pass and has to double back to grab it. He's something of an unintentional clown sometimes.
We completed Basic Obedience Class. Mungo has learned Sit and Down fairly reliably, Come and Stand somewhat reliably, and Stay in a lying down position for 30 seconds, sometimes longer. We still give him his food inside his crate, and he clearly considers it his food and safety place. If he thinks we're upset with him, he usually retreats to the crate. If he thinks we may be inclined to give him a treat, he often goes inside as well. Sometimes, if he's too excited when I try to review his lessons with him (e.g. the prospective treat is too tasty, or he's worked up from playing outside), he goes into the crate when I give him a command. Occasionally he just walks away. I know I'm not supposed to permit him to ignore a command, but we generally don't keep a collar on him indoors, and it's too much trouble to go catch him, put the collar and leash on him, and drag him back. Sometimes, if he isn't giving me the response I'm looking for, I'm the one who walks away.
We haven't been walking him nearly as much as we did at first. I get out of breath very easily these days, I'm tired in the mornings, and now it's very hot here, too hot to walk in the afternoons. I try to take him on weekend mornings. I don't have school after this week, so maybe I'll manage to walk weekday mornings again. Once in a while I take Mungo to visit a friend's dog and run around in their yard. Last week it was too hot even to do that, but maybe another time. He seems to consider all dogs his playmates unless the other dog tells him otherwise.
Mungo's many nicknames:
Goofus
Goober
Booger
Pupster
Mungo-bear
Mungo the Pooh Bear
Mungily-poo
Mungo-roo, especially when he is bouncing with excitement
Mungaroony (I thought of Mungaroni, but it hasn't caught on)
Mungolian
the Mungolian horde
He has adapted pretty well. He's pretty good about meeting people outside our house; we haven't had enough visitors to desensitize him to people who come inside the house. He's still easily startled, but very much less so than when he first arrived. He's not the smartest or most graceful dog: more than once, he has backed away timidly from something, then bumped into a piece of furniture or gotten a foot tangled in a laptop cord and panicked. When he's running around in the back yard and tries to pick up his squeak toy, he often misses on the first pass and has to double back to grab it. He's something of an unintentional clown sometimes.
We completed Basic Obedience Class. Mungo has learned Sit and Down fairly reliably, Come and Stand somewhat reliably, and Stay in a lying down position for 30 seconds, sometimes longer. We still give him his food inside his crate, and he clearly considers it his food and safety place. If he thinks we're upset with him, he usually retreats to the crate. If he thinks we may be inclined to give him a treat, he often goes inside as well. Sometimes, if he's too excited when I try to review his lessons with him (e.g. the prospective treat is too tasty, or he's worked up from playing outside), he goes into the crate when I give him a command. Occasionally he just walks away. I know I'm not supposed to permit him to ignore a command, but we generally don't keep a collar on him indoors, and it's too much trouble to go catch him, put the collar and leash on him, and drag him back. Sometimes, if he isn't giving me the response I'm looking for, I'm the one who walks away.
We haven't been walking him nearly as much as we did at first. I get out of breath very easily these days, I'm tired in the mornings, and now it's very hot here, too hot to walk in the afternoons. I try to take him on weekend mornings. I don't have school after this week, so maybe I'll manage to walk weekday mornings again. Once in a while I take Mungo to visit a friend's dog and run around in their yard. Last week it was too hot even to do that, but maybe another time. He seems to consider all dogs his playmates unless the other dog tells him otherwise.
Mungo's many nicknames:
Goofus
Goober
Booger
Pupster
Mungo-bear
Mungo the Pooh Bear
Mungily-poo
Mungo-roo, especially when he is bouncing with excitement
Mungaroony (I thought of Mungaroni, but it hasn't caught on)
Mungolian
the Mungolian horde